


Inspirational Gifts

by NyomiOwahama



Category: The Adventure Zone (Podcast)
Genre: F/M, Fluff, Gift Giving, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-08-22
Updated: 2017-08-22
Packaged: 2018-12-18 20:04:12
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,529
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11881827
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NyomiOwahama/pseuds/NyomiOwahama
Summary: Between all the running for their lives and the inevitable deaths when they don't run fast enough, things on the Star Blaster have been a bit hectic. Which is why Barry has a special gift for Lup, only she doesn't think she likes it. But then she does.Based on a Tumblr prompt, "I don't want this"





	Inspirational Gifts

**Author's Note:**

> So my bestie requested some Blupjeans for this prompt. I've thought a lot about how the two of them came to the decision to become liches, and I think it might have had something to do with a fear of losing the other or of leaving the other alone, so this is a product of that.
> 
> This takes place just after cycle 65, so pre-liche Barry and Lup, but post conservatory romance

“I don’t want this,” Lup said, staring down at the fashion atrocity in her hands. She looked up at Barry, and his crestfallen expression caused her to back-peddle, “I mean, babe, I love you, but this isn’t really my style, you know.”

About five minutes ago, Barry had hesitantly cracked open the door to her room and come in, holding something behind his back. 

“Whatcha got there?” She asked, sitting up from where she’d been lounging on her bed. 

“Uh, n-nothing,” Barry answered, stuttering his way through the words.

Lup grinned and hopped up from the bed, sliding over to her boyfriend. She leaned in slowly and stole a kiss, which Barry quickly lost himself in. While he was distracted, she made a grab for the item behind his back, which he only just avoided.

“Hey Lup, no fair,” he whined, taking a step back from her to keep the package out of sight.

“What is it?” Lup asked, “You can’t hide it from me forever, you know.”

“That’s not-” Barry stopped himself, then, after a moment, he blushed dark red and pushed a poorly and hastily wrapped package into her hands. 

“Aw, babe, you look like a tomato,” she teased, taking the gift and skipping back to her bed to open it. 

Except she hadn’t been able to hide her immediate distaste upon seeing the gift was made entirely of denim. While that was Barry’s signature, and she adored it on him, it didn’t quite work with her ensemble, which left them here, with Lup desperately trying to recover from upsetting him.

Barry sighed, his fingers playing with the bottom of his shirt, like she knew he did when he was nervous or upset. “I know,” he said, trying and failing to hide his dejection, “I just thought that maybe if I decorated it enough, you’d…”

Lup looked back down at the jean jacket, which she noticed now had patches and designs all over the fabric. Orange flames danced up the sleeves and around the bottom, musical notes decorated the collar with the song she and Barry had played at the conservatory, a mongoose family dashed along the front, fancy food and her favorite spices found their place on various pockets, and seashells and explosions formed a circle on the back surrounding the large bedazzled letters that spelled out her name.

Lup gasped quietly as she fully appreciated what Barry had given her. She has never received anything this thoughtful in her life. Merle had tried to give her a ridiculous beach gift once, which had probably been well-intentioned, but just showed how little he knew of her. Taako made her food all the time, but that was as much for Taako’s stress relief as it was a gift for her. This though, was something Barry had clearly put a lot of time and effort into. All for her. That took her breath away. Before she could fully process all the thoughts whirling around her head, her eyes welled up with tears.

Barry scrambled, looking even more distraught than before, “Oh, jeez, Lup, I’m sorry, I didn’t realize it was that bad-”

Lup cut him off by throwing her arms around him. “Shut up,” she said, burying her face into his shoulder to hide the tears, which continued to spill no matter how hard she tried to stop them, “It’s wonderful.” She took in a shaky breath, “I’m sorry I said I didn’t want it,” she mumbled.

“So you like it?” Barry asked, shock and excitement in his voice, “You really like it?”

Lup nodded her head against his chest, sniffling loudly. Barry wrapped his arms around her, holding her close and rubbing soothing circles over her back until the sobs dissipated. She wiped her eyes as she pulled away from him, going back over to her bed, where she’d left the jacket. She picked it up and pulled it on over her tank top, then turned to Barry.

“Well, how do I look?” Lup asked, grinning at him, her eyes still puffy and red.

Barry stared at her, mouth slightly agape, awe and admiration twinkling behind his glasses. “You look beautiful,” he said softly.

Lup looked away from him to keep herself from crying again. “Do I?” She asked, voice a bit shaky, as she walked over to her bedroom mirror. The jacket fit nicely, hugging tightly to her arms and back, hanging loosely in the front to keep the casual vibe. “Huh, not bad,” she said, turning back and forth to get a look at the jacket from all angles, “I can work with this.”

“Are you sure you like it?” Barry asked, nervously fiddling with his shirt again.

“I love it,” she answered, “It’s the sweetest thing anyone has ever given me.” She walked back over to Barry and pulled him down into a kiss, grinning the whole time. “Thank you,” she said against his lips as she pulled away. She took his hand, walking him over to the bed and sitting down on the edge.

“So what was this all about?” Lup asked, “Not that I don’t love being showered with gifts, but there’s usually an occasion,” she said with a chuckle. “Did I forget our anniversary or something? I’m pretty sure it’s not my birthday because Taako would be in here getting super pissed that I wasn’t spending literally every second of it with him.”

“Oh, there wasn’t really an occasion,” Barry answered, looking down at his lap, “I just wanted to give you something.”

Lup gave Barry’s hand a squeeze, causing him to look at her, “You sure?”

Barry sighed, “It’s just, we never know what’s going to happen in a cycle. I mean, hell, this last time we all died in the judge’s chamber, and Lucretia barely got out. And I just wanted you to have something to remember me by, or a piece of me with you, you know, if I were to die early on in a cycle. That way you wouldn’t be alone.”

“So you’re suggesting I replace you with a jean jacket?” Lup teased.

Barry laughed lightly, “Yeah, I know, it’s dumb.”

“It’s not dumb,” Lup said firmly, looking down. She took a deep breath, “I know how you feel. When we had to leave you and Magnus behind that time, I was so scared that maybe something would go wrong, that maybe you wouldn’t come back. And even if everything went fine, you still had to die down there, and I couldn’t help you.”

It was Barry’s turn to squeeze her hand, “We’re both still here. We’re okay.”

“We are,” Lup agreed, “But you’re right. There’s a very real chance one of us could die, and then we’ll be separated until the year is up.” She finally looked up at Barry, “I don’t want that.”

“That’s what the jacket is for. So it doesn’t feel like we’re so far apart,” Barry said with a smile.

“But you don’t have anything to remember me by if I die,” Lup pointed out, frowning.

“Then I guess you’re just not allowed to die,” Barry said, “Can’t have me being alone with nothing to help me remember you.”

“Barold,” Lup said with a scowl, letting go of his hand to shove him away.

Barry laughed, “Don’t worry about it,” he said. Then, he looked into her eyes, “I couldn’t possibly forget you, Lup. Never in a million years.”

Lup felt the air leave her lungs again. Barry always managed to blow her away with how deeply and passionately he loved her. Sometimes she wasn’t sure she’d survive it. She shook her head a little to bring herself back to reality. “While I appreciate the sentiment, I still want you to have something,” she said.

Lup stood up and walked over to her dresser, her jewelry box sitting on top. She rustled through the small chest, tossing necklaces and bracelets about the dresser’s surface.

“Really, Lup, it’s fine.”

“No, it’s not,” Lup answered without looking up. She grinned triumphantly as she pulled out a dangling earring, a gold star at the bottom, accented with orange and red. “This was one of my favorite pairs of earrings, but one fell out in the marketplace on Tesseralia, and there was no way I was getting it back from there,” she said. She snatched a plain golden chain from a pile of necklaces and hooked the earring onto it, bending the back around until it was secure. 

She skipped back over to Barry, unhooking the chain so she could latch it around his neck. The earring fell just below the collar of his shirt, and Lup tucked it just inside his shirt. “There, that’ll have to do until I can make something better,” she said, “It’ll be the greatest remember me present ever, you can count on it.”

Barry smiled, reaching up to place his hand on top of where the earring lay beneath his shirt, “I’m sure it will be.”

Lup nodded, the gears in her head already turning, She grinned to herself, “Hell, why not keep going. Maybe I’ll find away to cheat death itself. Then we’ll be together no matter what.”


End file.
